A Confident Prayer Life
1 John 5:13-15
Mark Verne, Nick Scalabrino and I were best friends in high school. As a graduation gift, our parents sent us on a trip called Beyond Malibu where we would spend 7 days and 6 nights backpacking the mountains of British Columbia Canada. It was one of the hardest and most memorable trips of my life. During the hike, we came to a steep incline that we need to cross horizontally. At the bottom of this very, very, very steep incline was a huge ravine. It was snowing and freezing and the incline was made almost entirely of ice. If our parents knew what the trip was actually going to entail, they would have never let us go on this trip. Our guides, Mark and Brian, came to Mark, Nick and I and tied us all together with a rope and said, “If one of you slips, the others have to lean against the side of the mountain and dig your ice axe into the ice wall to hold up friend.”
It was one of the most terrifying 30 minutes of my life. My confidence to walk across that sheet of ice and overcome that long slide down a cliff into a steep ravine was not in myself as I have always had a moderate fear of heights. My confidence was not merely in the ice axe I held in my hand or the hiking boots I had on my feet. My confidence was in the relationship I had with Mark and Nick. We had been best friends for four years. We had been through a lot together in those four years and as I walked across that terrifying stretch of trail I put my trust in my friends’ ability to hold me up from falling. My confidence was tied to my relationship with my friends.
Beloved, all of us go on our own journey across many dangers, toils and snares. Our confidence to make it through all the challenges in this life and the ultimate challenge of death and eternity is tied to our relationship with God. Are you confident in your relationship with God? Are you confident in God’s character? His power? His love? His mercy? His grace? Are you confident in God to carry you through the most terrifying moments of your life for his glory and your good?
As we walk through these brief verses, I pray you will have an even greater confidence in your relationship with God and his character and power, and his deep, immense love for you. Let me ask you three questions from this text as we search our own hearts to see if we have confidence in the Lord.
Do you have Confidence in Life?
Have you ever received a letter or an email from a friend that after reading it you ask yourself, “Why did they send that?” Well John is not writing that kind of letter. He tells his reader the purpose of this epistle in verse 13, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” First, John is writing to those who believe in the name of the Son God. He is writing to the church; to followers of Jesus Christ, blood bought sinners who have been born of God’s Spirit. He is writing to the church, secondly, that they may know they have eternal life. Have you ever wondered if you were saved? Have you ever struggled with the assurance of your salvation? Then this book is written for you. He has provided tests throughout this book to help you have confidence that you have eternal life. There are three overarching tests he provides: theological, moral, and social.
Believe that Jesus is the Christ – The main theological test John offers his readers is whether they believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. You may have confidence that you have eternal life if you believe that Jesus came as a man. He came as a human to save humanity. Jesus lived as a man and died as a man and was raised as a man so everyone who believes in Jesus will die to self and be raised to eternal life. Hear God’s Word:
1 John 2:23, “No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.
1 John 3:23, “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.”
1 John 4:2, “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,”
1 John 4:15, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
1 John 5:1, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.”
Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ? If yes, then you pass the test of faith.
Walk in the Light as He is in the Light – It is not enough to merely confess that Jesus is the Christ, but to walk as he walked. Faith in Jesus Christ is not shown merely word and talk but actions and obedience. We have to test ourselves morally to see whether we should have confidence that we have eternal life. Hear this verses:
1 John 1:6, “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”
1 John 2:3, “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.”
1 John 2:6, “whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
1 John 2:29, “If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.”
1 John 3:7, “Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.”
1 John 3:24, “Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.”
1 John 5:2, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.”
Do you strive to love God by obeying his commands? If yes, you should have confidence that you have eternal life. The third test, a relational one,
Love the fellow believers in Christ – Believers cannot, not love. Believers must love for they are born of love. The great mark of the Christian is are they loving towards God in obedience and towards the body of Christ in action.
1 John 2:10, “Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.”
1 John 3:10–11, “By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”
1 John 3:14a, “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.”
1 John 4:7, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”
1 John 4:21, “And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Do you pass the relational test of loving your brothers and sisters in Christ? If yes, then you have eternal life.
John wants us to know if we have eternal life. He provides these three tests, a theological test – (do believe in Jesus as he is revealed in Scripture?), a moral test – (do you strive to live a holy life?), and a relational test – (Do you love the body of Christ?)
And remember our ultimate confidence is not in the amount of our faith, but the object of our faith. It is not in our holiness, but in him who is holy, holy, holy. It is not in our love, but “by this we know love, that he laid down his life for us.” Our confidence that we have eternal life is intimately connected to our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Jesus came and sought you when you were a rebel and an enemy of God! He took God’s wrath for us so that we could become the righteousness of God. He did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. He loves you to the uttermost. His mercy will never cease to show you his goodness and his compassion towards you.
This letter was written to Christians that they may know, but it is also written to you who do not know Christ. It is written so that you may know that you do not have eternal life and that you are under condemnation awaiting God’s wrath. If you do not believe that Jesus is the Christ, if you do not obey God’s commands, and if you do not love the body of Christ, you are in danger. Let me plead with you today to turn to God in faith. Repent of your sins and trust in Christ. Trust in what God has done for you by sending his Son Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Confess Christ as Lord and be saved today.
Do you have Confidence in Prayer?
John wants you to know that you have eternal life because if you believe that God has rescued you from sin and death, if he has given you re-birth through the Holy Spirit, if he has demonstrated his great love for you in laying his life down for you on the cross, then you will trust him in all the things of life. 1 John 5:14–15
[14] And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. [15] And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
When we understand the gospel that while we were yet sinners, enemies of God, aliens to the promises, he chose us in him to be adopted as sons and daughters for the praise of his glory, then we will have a deep, firm trust of his love. Are you confident that God hears your prayers? Are you confident that God will answer your prayers in the way that are best for you?
First, God is not a cosmic genie in a bottle that we ask him for anything and he gives it to us. The text says, “if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” It does not say, “if we ask anything according to our will he hears us.” Remember the prayer even of the Lord Jesus in the Garden, “My Father, if it be possible, let his cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Jesus trusted the Father. He knew that the Father had his best interest in mind. He knew that the Father would always act according to his perfect, sovereign, pleasing will. And Jesus did not want anything but his will. One scholar said,
Prayer is not a convenient device for imposing our will upon God, or for bending his will to ours, but the prescribed way of subordinating our will to his. It is by prayer that we seek God’s will, embrace it and align ourselves with it. Every true prayer is a variation on the theme ‘your will be done.’[1]
Do you have faith in God? Do you have a deep-rooted firm trust that God’s will is best?
As Christians, we want to answer yes to those questions, but too often our lives are characterized more by fear of what we don’t have or rather than a lack of faith in God that he knows best and will provide for us as he sees fit. Matthew provides us 4 examples in the gospel when Jesus rebuked his disciples for a lack of faith.
In the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus is addressing anxiety and fear in not having enough food and clothing.
Matthew 6:30, “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more cloth you, O you of little faith?” While
When the disciples were in the boat when a big storm suddenly came upon them,
Matthew 8:26, “And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the seas, and there was a great calm.
When Jesus was walking on the water as he started to sink.
Matthew 14:30–31, “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
And when his disciples were traveling and suddenly realized they did not have enough bread for the journey.
Matthew 16:7–10, “[7] And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” [8] But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? [9] Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? [10] Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?”
In every situation the disciples looked at their circumstances and had fear that God was not going to meet their needs. They did not have confidence in God to meet their needs. How often are we the same? It may not be for bread or to walk on water, but it may be trusting God in infertility, in providing a spouse, in opportunities to use certain gifts, in your search for a house, in deep friendships, and in reconciliation with family.
God is trustworthy. Beloved, he has given you eternal life. He has become your propitiation on the cross. He has given the Holy Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing your inheritance. He is infinitely wise and infinitely powerful. He knows best. Are you confident in your relationship with him? If you are, our lives would be characterized by prayer.
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. [15] And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
The God of the Universe has invited us to bring all our requests to him. If we struggle with anxiety, worry and fear, the solution is prayer and a deeper trust in God. Meditate on the gospel of Christ. Go deeper and deeper into God’s great love for you and trust him.
Take stock of your relationship with God. Do you have confidence in prayer? Do you pray? We too often don’t pray because we don’t have confidence in God because our relationship with him is weak. Our prayer life is directly linked to the quality of our relationship with the Lord. Why do you not pray? This may take some heart work, but take stock of your prayer life and ask, “Why do I not pray?” It may be because you are angry with God for not answering past prayers. It may be because you are bitter towards God because of your life circumstances. It may be because you don’t believe that God has the power to meet your needs. It may be because you are impatient in waiting. It may be because your prayers have gone unanswered. Remember, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. [15] And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” God will answer our prayers according to his will. He hears us and will answer. And at the end of history when we see how he answered our prayers we will marvel how he did. Let not doubt him, but let us trust him.
Do you have a Confident Prayer Life?
If we know we have eternal life, and if we know God hears our prayers, we should be a people of prayer. Let me have several applications that can help us grow in our prayer individual and as a congregation.
Meditate on the Prayers of the Scriptures – The biggest book in the Bible, the Psalms, are a collection of prayers to God. Study them. Read through the prayers of the saints. Hannah and Mary’s prayer, the prayers of Paul, and the prayers of the Lord Jesus. Jesus taught his disciples to pray in the Lord’s prayer and model prayer in the Garden. Jesus also offered a number of parables on prayer in the Gospels (Luke 11:5-8, Luke 18:1-8)
Pay attention to the Prayers during our services – Every week our service is filled with specific prayers on the Scriptures. We have a prayer of praise that hallows and honors and worships the Lord for who he is. We have a prayer of confession where someone corporately leads us in confessing our collective sins to the Lord. We have a prayer of thanksgiving before we give our offering. We have a pastoral prayer that lays our petitions before the Lord for the world, our nation, our congregation, for other churches and for the sermon. I hope that during those times of prayer you are focused and affirming those prayers in your heart and encouraged to pray more in your personal life.
Corporate Prayer Service – We pray together every Wednesday night. We come and bring our requests before the Lord. We pray for the sick, we pray for the hurting, we praise God for his providential hand, we pray for the unity of the church, we pray for the lost and evangelistic opportunities, we just pray. We often say that Wednesday night is the hidden gem of Park Baptist Church.
Pray for the kingdom to grow – Salvation belongs to the Lord. We must never forsake prayer’s role in salvation. Let us ask the Lord of the harvest to save and to send workers into the harvest field. Sidlow Baxter, “Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons -- but they are helpless against our prayers.” Only God saves so let us scatter the seed and pray that God will bring and increase.
Praying for the membership – One of our promises we make in our church covenant is to pray for one another. “We will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, nor neglect to pray for ourselves and others.” Work through the church directory and pray for the body. During this season as we navigate this virus, where we have two services and members who are not gathering due to health concerns, we have to be more diligent to pray for one another as a way to continue to remember each other. Pray helps take our eyes off ourselves and shapes our heart towards God, his kingdom and his people.
Fasting and prayer walking – One of the ways to strengthen your prayer life is to fast. Intentionally give up something whether it be food or technology or an activity and take that time and replace it with intentional prayer. Pray walk around your neighborhood praying for families who are far from the Lord or pray walk around our church facility. Intentional prayer may lead to intentional conversation which may lead to eternal life.
Pray – The best way to grow your prayer life is to pray. The more you spend time with God the more you will want to spend time with God. Whatever we feed grows and whatever we starve dies. If we feed our prayer life with the Lord, it will grow. Pray throughout the day. Shoot up arrow prayers like Nehemiah did before the king before your meetings, “Lord help me be focused and diligent in this meeting.” “Lord give me favor in his conversation.” Turn your phone off. Turn the TV off. Close the computer. Set a timer and just pray.
One of the great delights in our home is our dog Ollie. Ollie is a year-old lab hound mix. He has boundless energy and a sweet disposition. During our meals, Ollie works his way around the table, not barking, gently laying his head on everyone’s lap, showing his love for us and his deep desire for the food that is on the table. Martin Luther once said of his dog, Tolpel, as he watched his master with an open mouth and motionless eyes, ‘Oh, if I could only pray the way this dog watches the meat! All his thoughts are concentrated on the piece of meat. Otherwise, he has no thought, wish, or hope.”
Beloved, I hope that we would pray with the same intensity and hope as my Ollie concentrates on the food from our table. He knows that because of our love for him that he is going to get something from his requests. Beloved, O how much more will we receive from our Heavenly Father when we go to him with our requests. “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. [15] And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”
[1] Stott, J. R. W. (1988). The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 19, p. 185). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.